At this point, the top four quarterbacks available for this spring’s NFL draft appear to be Teddy Bridgewater, Johnny Manziel, Blake Bortles and Derek Carr.

The Vikings, desperate for a quarterback, have the No. 8 pick in the draft. Two teams — the St. Louis Rams, who have the No. 2 pick, and the Atlanta Falcons, at No. 5 — are certain not to take a quarterback in the first round.

That leaves five teams ahead of the Vikings, and most also need a quarterback. Houston, which has the No. 1 pick, seems sure to draft a QB. So does Cleveland at No. 6.

Oakland (No. 3) and Jacksonville (No. 4) also could draft a quarterback, but defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, linebacker Anthony Barr or offensive tackle Jake Matthews might serve them better than a lower-rated QB at those spots.

Choosing a QB after the first round has worked well with Russell Wilson (third round) in Seattle, Colin Kaepernick (second round) in San Francisco and Andy Dalton (second round) in Cincinnati.

Tampa Bay, which has the No. 7 pick, has QB Mike Glennon, who played fairly well this season, and the Bucs might stay with him for a while.

The Vikings could trade up in the draft, but that probably would be too expensive. Between now and May 8 — the first day of the draft — a lot of things probably will change. But as of today, a top-four QB is expected to be available to the Vikings at No. 8.

Twins Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Kaat, 75, who won 283 major league games and is in love with golf, often takes a caddie for morning rounds at his McArthur course near Stuart, Fla., and plays a match against himself, left-handed and right-handed.

Kaat has his caddie carry two bags of clubs — one left-handed and one right-handed. The other day at McArthur, Kaat shot a 75 playing right-handed. He has shot 70 (in Glens Falls, N.Y.) playing left-handed and now is believed to be the only golfer to shoot his age or better left-handed and as right-handed.

The 6-foot-4 Kaat, who remains in top physical condition, is a 6-handicap golfer left-handed, a 10-handicapper right-handed. A left-handed pitcher, Kaat learned to play golf right-handed at Minnetonka Country Club while with the Twins because he didn’t have left-handed clubs. Later, he found he was more natural at golf playing left-handed.

“I have a hard time breaking 80 right-handed but can usually keep it in the mid-70s left-handed,” he said.

Every time Kaat plays a round of golf left-handed, he finishes the day by hitting 50 practice balls right-handed. If he plays a round right-handed, he finishes the day by hitting 50 balls left-handed.

“I try to play every day I can,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kaat’s next chance for election to baseball immortality (the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.) comes at the end of this year with a vote of a Golden Era veterans committee.

Is he optimistic this time?

“I pay more attention to my golf game than I do that,” Kaat said.

Speaking of Cooperstown, another former Twins pitcher, Jack Morris, is up for a 15th and final time for election by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Results will be announced on Jan. 8.

“I just think it’s a travesty that Jack has not been put in, and if he doesn’t go in this year, I’m going to lose even more respect (for the writers’ voting process),” said Kaat, who works with Bob Costas as an analyst for the Major League Network.

“I mean, the guy was the best pitcher in the American League in the ’80s. He helped three teams win World Series, particularly the Twins in ’91.

“They can hang their hat on the ERA thing all they want (Morris’ career earned-run average was 3.90). But Jack (254 victories) was the kind of guy that all he wanted to do was win 6-4, 6-5. He didn’t care what his ERA was.

“I have respect for (Greg) Maddux and (Tom) Glavine — I’m pretty sure they’ll both get in. But I certainly don’t feel that they deserve it any more than Jack does.”

George Thole, 74, the legendary retired Stillwater football coach who is in the North Dakota State Athletic Hall of Fame, and a few other NDSU alumni were to leave Thursday for Frisco, Texas, to watch their alma mater play Towson on Saturday for the FCS football championship.

NDSU (14-0), which has about a dozen starters from Minnesota, defeated Kansas State 24-21 in Manhattan, Kan., in its season opener. Last Saturday in Tempe, Ariz., Kansas State blasted Michigan 31-14 in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.

Dick Ericson, who kept Metropolitan Stadium beautifully groomed for the Twins for decades, will be inducted into the Major League Baseball Groundskeepers Hall of Fame on Jan. 26 in Miami.

Shane Linehan, 37, the ex-Washington County sheriff’s deputy who on Saturday helped save the life of a 17-year-old who had gone into cardiac arrest skiing at Afton Alps, was a Mr. Basketball Minnesota runner-up at Woodbury High and is the son of former Gophers basketball standout Don Linehan.

DON’T PRINT THAT

The Vikings won’t be adding an alumnus to their Ring of Honor for the next two years because of the move to TCF Bank Stadium. But once they get into their new stadium in 2016, Matt Birk and Jim Kleinsasser will get strong consideration.

Metrodome memory: Patrick Klinger, the former Twins marketing whiz, recalls climbing to the top of the Dome’s roof with Kent Hrbek on a July 4 to get a 360-degree view of fireworks launched across the Twin Cities.

It cost one enterprising spectator $3.50 apiece to make 600 “I Was There” T-shirts, which he sold for between $15 and $20 each at the Metrodome on Sunday for the Vikings’ final Dome game against Detroit.

University of St. Thomas football coach Glenn Caruso has received more than 100 applications for the Tommies’ offensive coordinator job. Interviews were to begin this week.

The 25 players chosen for the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team that will compete in Sochi, Russia, average 6 feet 1, 203 pounds and 27 years old.

OVERHEARD

Former Cretin-Derham Hall star Ryan McDonagh of the New York Rangers on being chosen for the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team: “It’s something I’ve dreamed about for quite some time.”

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